When I think of Independence Day, a few things come to mind.
The song "Independence Day" by Martina McBride is the biggest one.
"Now I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong
But maybe it's the only way
Talk about your revolution
It's Independence Day"
These lyrics are powerful, poignant, and I get chills every single time I hear them. A revolution is why we have Independence.
Naturally, I think about July 4th and two different movies. One is National Treasure...
"I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence."
The second is Hamilton.
"To the Revolution!"
Back to the Revolution.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
That was the vision our founding fathers had. Somehow, though, we've gotten away from that vision and are seemingly heading toward a dictatorship, run by the Republican party. In a matter of a few months, so many people have lost their freedoms. It has been shown, by the GOP, that they do not think all men are created equal.
This is a terrifying time for black people, Hispanic people, Jewish people, trans people, women, and anyone who is a White, Straight, Cisgender, Christian man. Rights are being taken away at alarming rates. Lives are being lost for no reason.
This world is becoming scary.
And dark.
It dimmed a little more in March when we lost Rena. She was an amazing blogger but an even better person. She was always willing to help, always there with a smile, and she was just an example of what epic awesomeness was.
This prompt, "When you think of Independence Day what do you think of", was Rena's submission for July. Those of us who were friends with her wanted to pay tribute. Karen, who is the mastermind behind all of this, asked us if we would like to use Rena's submissions.
Naturally, I said yes. I haven't blogged since October, but I had to do this. Not just for Rena, but for Karen as well.
Rena, I know you're watching over us all and keeping us in check. Thank you. I'm sad we never got to meet in person. Your loss is felt and has impacted us all. Rest easy, my dear friend.
If you would like to read the rest of Rena's prompts, click the links below. If you knew Rena or enjoyed reading her posts, please leave a comment below.
RIP My Beautiful Friend
You made my cry. Thank you for doing this for Rena. And for me.
ReplyDeleteIf Rena is watching over us, I hope she gets to blank out all the political stuff that keeps getting worse.
ReplyDeleteI both read Rena's blog and was her Facebook friend. It's my loss that I never interacted with her personally. She left us too soon. I'm thankful Karen decided to dedicate yesterday to using the themes she had picked for this year for the secret swap. May she rest in peace.
ReplyDelete